BBC Three to explore young people’s attitudes to porn

BBC Three will explore young people’s attitudes towards porn in a new three-part documentary.

Porn Laid Bare follows six young Brits, with very different attitudes to pornography, as they undertake a journey to explore the ethics of porn in Spain’s booming sex industry.

The programme has been announced alongside the findings of a new survey for the online channel, which suggests that almost a quarter (23 per cent) of people aged 18-25 who watch porn think they might be addicted.
The survey of over 1,000 people found that over three-quarters of young men (77 per cent) and nearly half of young women (47 percent) admitted to watching pornography within the last month.

The group featured in the programme includes a 24 year-woman who experienced physical symptoms of addiction from over-consumption of porn, a porn-obsessed 28 year-old man who attends porn conventions in his spare time, a 22 year-old female student who never watches porn as it goes against the feminist principles, a 24 year-old women who is considering a career as a porn actress, and two young men in their 20s who use porn recreationally.

Spending three weeks on a variety of pornographic sets across a spectrum of genres, the group discuss how porn has shaped their own views of sex, while asking tough questions about porn, which many believe demeans women and minorities as well as promoting violence and unsafe behaviour. Witnessing the industry up close, the group challenge their own perceptions of the industry and openly reveal how porn has affected them in their own sex lives, to being more openly sexually to being desensitised to sex and feeling under pressure to perform.

Like some of the contributors in the programme, the survey suggests that over seven out of 10 people (71 per cent) agree that porn has given them ideas for things to try out sexually, with 52 per cent in agreement that porn has played at least some role in helping them understand and explore their own sexuality.

However, just under a quarter (24 per cent) of those surveyed agreed they have felt pressured to do things that a partner has seen in porn and just under one in five (19 per cent) agree that they have tried things they have seen in porn and regretted it. Over a third (35 per cent) agree that they have had riskier sex due to porn.

The findings also suggest that some young people feel porn can create unrealistic and misogynistic expectations about sex and the human body with over half of those surveyed (54 per cent) agreeing that porn creates impossible standards for beauty and bodies. Similarly, nearly three quarters (74 per cent) say the depictions of sex in porn are not realistic and just over a quarter (26 per cent) said porn has had a negative impact on their body confidence, with one in five claiming porn has seriously made them consider plastic surgery.

However, on performing in porn, 52 per cent agreed porn is a good way to make money and just over a quarter (26 per cent) said they would like to perform in porn themselves, representing 32 per cent of men versus 17 per cent of women.

Over half (55 per cent) of men said porn was their main source of sex education compared to one third of women (34 per cent). Women are also much more concerned about how porn depicts other women, with 50 per cent saying it dehumanises women.

Almost a third (30 per cent) of young people surveyed that they believed porn is harmful to society and at its worst can seemingly promote violence, risk taking, and is produced in terrible conditions that feed the wider sex industry.

Porn Laid Bare will be available on BBC Three from Thursday 14th March.

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